tisane

English

Alternative forms

• ptisan
• ptisane
• tisan

Etymology

From Old French ptisane, tisane, from Ancient Greek πτισάνη (ptisanē, “peeled barley, barley-water”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /tɪˈzæn/
• (US) IPA: /tɪˈzɑn/

Noun

tisane (plural tisanes)

1. (obsolete) A medicinal drink made from barley soaked in water
2. Any infusion or drink, especially medicinal or curative, made by steeping in hot water; a herbal tea
   • 1831, Alexander Macaulay, A dictionary of medicine, designed for popular use, 2nd edition, page 454:

     Ptisan. A diluent drink which makes a great figure in the dietetic precepts of the ancients. Ptisan strictly signifies an extract, and was originally applied to barley which was boiled till it began to swell, then was dried in the sun, bruised, cleared of the husks, and again bruised. A decoction was made of this prepared barley, and used as a drink in severish disorders. Other drinks of a similar kind were called ptisans, though not made of barley; and Horace tells his rich miser that he requires a ptisan of rice, ptisanarium oryzæ. The term is not much used by medical men in this country. In France it seems to be a general name for diluent drinks.

   • 1928, Agatha Christie, The Mystery of the Blue Train:

     “Neither,” said Poirot, “I shall go to bed and take a tisane. The expected has happened …”

   • 1993, Will Self, My Idea of Fun:

     As soon as he had opened the door he worked his way back to his high-backed Queen Anne armchair, where he picked up his bone-china cup and took a sip of a rarefied tisane.

Anagrams

• seitan
• tenias

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French

Etymology

Latin tisana, ptisana, from Ancient Greek πτισανη ‘peeled barley, barley-water’, related to πτισσειν ‘peel’.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA: /tizan/

Noun

tisane f (plural tisanes)

1. a herbal tea

Anagrams

• entais, niâtes, sainte, seinât, tenais

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Italian

Noun

tisane f

1. Plural form of tisana

Anagrams

• antesi, asteni, entasi, intesa, senati, tesina